The present invention pertains to vehicle armrests and particularly an armrest with a storage compartment having a cover which opens in two orthogonal directions.
Recently and for a number of reasons, vehicles have generally become smaller and thus offer less space and more compact quarters. Along with the tighter space has come a loss of interior areas sufficient in size and location for placement of convenient storage compartments which are easily accessible. As a result, smaller, deeper, narrower, and more irregular containers are being offered which are difficult to access.
One area of a vehicle which has in recent years become a popular storage location is an armrest positioned between either the front seats or the rear passenger seats. Typically, storage-type armrests have a cover which is pivotally mounted to a base such that the armrest is opened rearwardly. Such construction is typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,184 issued Dec. 20, 1988 and assigned to the present Assignee. A difficulty with such a storage armrest lies in the fact that access for the vehicle driver can be difficult if not awkward particularly when driving since it is necessary to lift the cover to a vertical rearward position for access.